Material measuring and handling apparatus



F. VOELKER, JR 1,905,018

MATERIAL MEASURING AND HANDLING APPARATUS Filed Sept 18, 1929 5Sheets-Sheet 1 April 25, 1933.

Q w a M m M m V n 4 A o n mm m mm z m 1M W Ml Q M Q wium F. m i H mm w iQ & m :U m m JQ n HHHHlt -1-ilHHHmHHHH INN -M H WPMTHHHH ww 15mm.-- @wmw 8mm--- w N x M x m w N \N MN M %N w mw NW N a k a R QM R my N 6 N xMATERIAL MEASURING AND HANDLING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 18, 1929 3Sheets-Sheet 2 Z336 ywvsmoiuu ATTORNEY;

A ril 25, 1933. F. VOELKER, JR 1,905,013

MATERIAL MEASURING AND HANDLING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 18, 1929 8Sheets-Sheet 3 Wv Mw ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 25, 1933 UNITED STATES.JPATENT'OFFT FRED VOELKER, or PITTSBURGH, PnNN'sYLvAnI fAssI NoR To,BLAw-KNox COMPANY, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION onnnwJERSEY MATERIAL MEAsuR NsANn nnnnrlrne APPARATUS 1 Application filedSeptember This invention relates to material measuring and handlingapparatus, as, for instance, batchers or apparatus for the measuring andhandling of aggregates, such'as sand, stone '5 and cement, used in themanufacture of concrete, and is particularly concerned with the controlmechanism for the feeding of the materials. Y i V V ,One of the primaryobjects of the invention is the simplification of theconstruction,'assemblage and operation of apparatus of this type. V 1 jAnother object of the invention is the provision of an apparatus of thetype specified which may be controlled by one operator stationed at oneside without moving from this position either to operate the materialdelivery means or to effect adjustments necessary for measuring thematerials being (used, either by'volume or by weight;

The foregoing objects and advantages will appear more clearly from aconsideration of the following description taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, which illustrate the preferred embodiment of theapparatus and in which Figurel is a side elevational view of theapparatus and associated bins and hoppers,

certain of the parts being sake of clarity; V

FiguresQa, 2b and 20, when placed end .to end, illustratethe controllingor operating 7 mechanism of the present invention in plan; Figure 3 isan elevational view taken at the right-hand end of Figure 201; Figures 4and 5 are sectional views-taken, respectively, as indicated by the lines44 and'5 5 of Figure 2a; V j

.Figures 6 and 7 are sectional views similar to Figs. 4: and 5 but takenas indicated by the lines 6-'6 and of Figure 27); and

Figures 8 and 9, inlike manner, are taken as indicated by the lines 8 8and,99 of Figure 20. j v 7 Referring now more particularly to Figure 1,it will be seen that-I have therein illustrated a row of bins,dischargeithroatsof which are indicated at A, B and C. Below each of thethroats is arranged a weighing or measuring hopper device indicated ingenomitted" for the 18,1925. Seria1 No.393,393. Y

eral by the reference characterfD and' sub divided'by the walls 10 intoseparate ciompartments '11,- 12 and 13 positioned, respectively, belowthe. binthroats A, B andG. At this point'it might be noted'tha't thebins and/orthe hoppers may be made either entirely separately orintegrally, as indicated 7 in the drawings.

. The hoppers 11, 12 and berigidly 7 supported from, the framework'l or,as indicated in thedrawings, maybe suitably associated with aweighingmechanism, the said 'mechanism including links 15 and 16 which supportthe hoppers from the framework. 14

through the interposed lever A mechanism which includes longitudinalbeams ,17 and transverse levers (not shown) to-the, latter,

of which the links aresecured by the U- members 17 a. The weighingmechanism proper is coupled with the lever mechanism at one end ofthehopper construction D' as indicated at the right offFigure'1, and,briefly, includes alever 18 the fulcrum point,

of which is supported-by the rod or ,link19. One end of the lever 18 issuitably coupled with the lever mechanism while the other 'end' isassociated with the scale diagram- [ma tically indicated at 20 throughlink 21,

lever 22 and link 23, the fulcrum of the lever'f- I V .22 beingsupported from any suitable stationary point by, the connection 24. Inthis connection, it is to be noted that the weigh ing mechanism formsnopart of thepresent inventionper se and henceis only briefly describedherein. A more detailed disclosure of a weighing mechanism suitable forthe 'purposemay be had, if desired, by inspection of thecopendingapplication of Martin and Voelker, Jr Serial No, 305,718,filed Septeme vber 13, 1928. V At the bottom or discharge point ofe'ach one of the binthroats A, B and C is arranged a discharge control gate 25,. the samebeing mounted onrollers 26 which ride on the tracks 27*, the'said tracksbeing suitably supported' on1thev-structure 14 by means of the uprightplates 28. The gates, therefore, move in a horizontal plane transverselyof ,thebin andhopper mechanism.

q In order to operate the gates, prothat the two gears 30 for each gateare mount-' ed on a shaft 31 (see Figs; 2a, 2b" and The'const-ruction'so far describedis similar in many respects to the gateconstruction and associated 7 parts illustratedvin the c opendingapplication above referred to, and forms no part'of the presentinvention per se, although in the formof altriangular plate secured as c'1 a showing thereof is included inthis disclosure in order that theoperation of'the opera, ating mechanism now' to be described';mayf

* hoppers employed in 'the 'particular' installa- I be moreclearlyunderstood;

, {The operating 'mecnanism of the present,

: invention includes a gear32 mountedon each 7 of th'ejshafts loat apoint intermediate-of gears and a gear 33 meshing therewith and 1mounted ona common shaft 34 which extends throughout'the entire length:of the bins and 7 tion, it being understood that' the inventionis-appliioable to constructionswherein any 7 number of; bins and hoppersare employed although onlyithree' are illustrated v in the I odra'win'gs. From 'inspectionof the drawings,

7 'particularly'Figu'res 260,2?) and '20, it will be I apparent that theshaft 34' is arranged in 39 parallelism with the shafts 31Tandalso thatthe gears'33 are free "to revolve as well as Y slide; longitudinally on'the f shaft 34; Each onelo f. the gears 33 'is p'rovided-withprojectionsf35, preferably ofdovetail. configuratien,1which"are engagedby and cooperate o with themembers 36, thelatter being-rigidly securedto the shaft34 so that the gears 33 andthe members 86, in efiect,constitute male 1 and female elements of clutchingdevices,

The invention further includes a cam w mechanism for aci'uatingtheseveralclutch- -extending"throughout, the entire length of 7.

ing devices to which end anotherj rshaft 37 the structure is provided;The cam'fmechanism proper includes; dogs or members 38 havfingf prongsor extensions '89 and 40 for: em

7 i gaging the, gears '33 atthe sidesf'thereof, the

-' tion43 adaptedfto engage, the shaft 34 in jorder to prevent them fromrotating on the sai'd do'g's 7 being mounted for sliding movement-alongthe shaft '37; andbeing provided with camsurfaces :41 and 42-611each-side.

It should also benoted that the" prong 40 of each ofthei dogs has abifurcated end por shaft I :=t*-Rigidly mountedon the shaft37 eitherside of each one of the dogs-38 are collars 44 having semiflanges 45,"the'latter being provided jfo'r i-thep'urpose of, supporting; the ad-'.justing bolts or; screws 46 and""4'Z WlliCl'l'OQ-f. "operate with:thecam surfaces 41 and 42 to o effect movement ofthedogmembers and thusf of'the' gears 33'longitudinally of their respec v tive shafts 3'Zand34'. f 7 W rlthe'purpose of clarity in the following statement ofoperationithefthreeclutching devices including their gears 33, members36' and dogs 38vare designated, in general, by the referencecharactersE, F and G. I

At one end of theoperating and controlling 7p o mechanism the shaft 34.isfprovided with a crank handle 48 and the shaft 37" is provided withan operating lever 49. In order to afford H a an indicationof theposition of the various clutching devices controlled by the lever 49,

I have arranged an indicating member 50 against rotation to the shaft 37adjacent the leverj49: This indicator may be provided with any suitableinscription or legend for r I advisingthe operator of'th'e", position ofthe 1 entire clutching mechanism or, as indicated in Figure 3, may beprovidedwith-"suitable 1 markingssuch as the holes51 at each cornerfor'the same purpose. Itisto be understood, of course,that'wherean'installation is being 7 made 'in which a different number of-bins.

is employed, the indicator matakQSOme other suitable form'orbe providedow'ithany other suitable marking or inscription; f

It might also be noted that all of theishafts i v any suitable meanssuchfasthep'ins v55. The

which may arise.

thebottbm f Pt mm-amen Ling devices indicated at 54. V

'In generahjitwill be seen that my invenone vside thereof, including theoperations weighing them, reading or! adjusting the scales anddischarging the measured mateoperating handle 48 and leve'r 49am prefe 1erably-pos'itioned at the endjof the installation which is adjacent tothe-scale mecha :anism,'.butit'should beunderstood that the" gatecontrolling members 121s well .as the weighingmechanism may be mountedat 'ei-z "'ther endof, the entire construction accordl; 7

ing to V: particular needsor' circumstances":

7 tion provides "for the ready; operation and, gcontrolofthe'entirebatoher from a point on V c r .r.. o 1'15: ofdehvering mater alssuchas'sand, cement, I large stone, small stone, or any combinations f f Ithereof to the hopper, measuringand/or rials; that the construction.provides forjthe it ready assemblage and shipment'of the whole permit ofthe transfer of the '=several conin its entirety, for measurement Eloyvolume structure includingbinsandhoppersyasg a" 7 t i unityth'at thedeviceis so constructed as? to 1251 't'rols, or certain ones only, atwill, tothe o ther il" side of thehopper and bin construction, after themechanism is set up atthe scene of op l erationsj and-that the device.may be used,

only, by weight only, or by both volume and weight.

By referring now more particularly to Figures 2a, 2b, 2c and 3 to 9,inclusive, it willbe seen, that when the construction is set up foroperation the collars 44 are so set circumferentiallyof the shaft 37 andthe bolts 47 are so adjusted that an engagement or entrainment of onlyone of the clutch devices is maintained for a given setting of the lever49 and indicator 50. As shown in Figures 2a, 3, 4'and 5, with theadjustment of the parts 44 and 47 indicated, the clutch device Eoccupies the engaged position with the lever 49 at the settingindicated. The other clutch devices F and G, as indicated in Figs. 2band 2c are then in disengaged position. The parts associated with. theclutching devices F andG are so arranged and-adjusted with respect tothose associated with the device E that upon movement of the lever 49upwardly through 120 degrees (in which position another corner. of thetriangular indicator will appear at the top) the clutchingdevice F willchange to the engaged position, while the clutch E will be disengaged.In like manner when the lever 49 is moved to bring the third corner ofthe triangular indicator to the top, the clutching device G will becomeengaged and the clutching devices F and E will occupy the disengagedpositions. v

The engagement and disengagement of each one of the clutching devicesis, of course, efiected by means of the adjustable bolts 46 p and 47bearing on the cam surfaces 41 and 42, respectively, and, as will beapparent from inspection of Figures 2a, 4 and 5, two bolts 46' areprovided at the left of the clutching device E, while only one bolt 47is provided at the right, the two bolts 46 serving to maintain theassociated clutching device in disengaged position during rotation ofthe shaft 37 to effect-engagement of the devices F and G.

It should benoted still further that the effectivecam surfaces of eachone of the dogs 38 extend throughout only approximately.

120 degrees about the shaft" 37 and that the movement of the shaft 37 isalways efiected clockwise when viewed as in Figure 3. In order to effectthis movement and avoid interference of the lever 49 with the shaft 34or the crank 48, a pawl or ratchet mechanism indicated at 49a ispreferably employed at the point of attachment of the lever'49 to theshaft 37, it being understood that the indicator 50 is rigid with theshaft by means of the squared stud 50a thereof on which it is mounted.

V In connection with the cam surfaces and the correlative movement ofthe bolts 46 and 47, it should be noted that upon rotation of r theshaft 37 as specified, thebolts ride on the cam surfaces from theirlowest to their highest points at the latter of which the cam surfacesterminate. Thus, with the lever 49 r .in the position indicated, amovement of the ride thereon and'eifect a movement of this device tocause disengagement Further, a

movement ofthe lever 49 upwardly fromthej position indicated brings bothbolts 46 of the clutching device F out of engagement with the camsurface 41 and at the same time causes the bolt 47 of this device toride on the cam surface 42 toward its high point and'thus effect amovement of the dog 38 to the left (see Figs. 2b, 6 and 7). In likemanner, an additional movement of the shaft 37 through 120 degreescauses a disengagement of the clutching device F and an engagement ofthe inspection of Figures 20, .8 and 9.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent- I that the present inventionmakes provision for simple and convenient control of a series 7 of binsin apparatus of this type irrespective of the particular number employedand that the whole construction is of a type which is readily assembledand operated at the scene of operations. V

In addition, ready adjustment is had for all parts, such as the clutchmembers, the camengaging screws, and the screw-supporting.

collars. V

I claim: 1

clutching device G, as will be aparent from In material measuring andhandling a paratus, the combination of a material supply device, adischarge controlmeans forthe device including a gear, operating meansfor the control means including a shaft, a gear mounted for rotative andsliding movement on said shaft and clutchmeans for coupling anduncoupling the second mentionedgear and the shaft without disengagingthe intermeshing gears.

signed my name.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto (l FRED VOELKER, JR. j

